Matrix: The Virus
by Franci The Glitch
Summary: The sun rose, and the Arcade is in a deep sleep of strange, sweet dreams. A mysterious boy and a strange computer program show up. What is this new menance? Will someone will be able to defeat it ... or will the Arcade be destroyed? First season of the Matrix Series. (AUTHOR ON VACATION)
1. Chapter 1

**Here finally the Matrix series! Co-writed with Wilbur-Nator, also author of the OCs Virtual and Morpheus. The OCs RRae and Sandy belongs to RobinsInTheSkye and her little brother. The OC Erik belong to my little brother. The other OCs belongs to us, the Big Sugar Rush Four.**

* * *

_**The Matrix Series**_

_**Season One: The Virus**_

_**Chapter One: Sweet Dreams**_

* * *

Headache.

Maybe that was what had awakened her, so Clarion Grace Jackson, also known as Pammy Cotton Candy, groaned and opened her neon blue eyes. She assumed it was morning by now, but then again, it was always morning in Sugar Rush Speedway, the candy kart-racing game of Litwak's Arcade. The bright sunshine streaming through the windows wasn't currently helping her pounding head at the moment either, and she wondered if Sugar Rush had pain-killers around somewhere.

Most likely not. This was a candy game, not Dr. Mario ... she sat up and looked around. The other girls were still asleep around her, after the little slumber party that they had had the night before, and the red-haired girl couldn't help but smile. "Vanellope, wake up!" she called softly, reaching over and shaking her black-haired, hazel-eyed friend's shoulder.

No answer.

Clarion frowned slightly. That was unusual, the President of Sugar Rush was always an early riser. She looked back around at the others in worry as she noticed they, too, were not even stirring. "Vani! Citrus! Kand! Lily!" she called the name of each of the girls, but none of them responded, just continued to slumber peacefully.

Clarion huffed slightly, crossing her arms, then spotted a book and picked it up, throwing it at a nearby wall with a thud. Nothing. She picked up another book and, aiming, threw it at the bookshelf full of trophies. The book collided with the golden cups, which fell to the floor with ear-splitting crash that sounded like banging pots, didn't matter if they got dented, they'd regenerate next time the game was played. But still nothing. She drew in a deep breath.**_"HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"_** she screamed at the top of her lungs.

Not so much as even the flicker of an eyelash. She finally gave up and just sat there, blue eyes narrowed thoughtfully as she figured her necklace. She knew something was very wrong. She could feel it in her code. And her code was _never_ wrong. Clarion silently counted the group of sleeping racers. All of them were there and accounted for, except for herself and ... Jelly.

Where was Jelly? She wasn't one for early rising either, but maybe if she was up, she knew something about this whole thing. Rising to her feet, the girl quietly slipped on her blue boots and, grabbing her white bow from a nearby table and fastening it in her hair, turned and ran out of the room.

* * *

Clarion opened the door to the kart workshop and, stepping inside, was greeted with the sight of a purple-haired girl working underneath a rainbow kart. She waved, approaching the racer. "Hey, Jelly!"

The girl rolled out from under the kart and sat up, wiping the chocolate oil off her hands as her blue eyes half-closed sarcastically. "Oh look, if it's not the Super-Powerful Madame that finally awoke. What brings you to visit the mere mortals like us?" she asked in her English accent.

Clarion rolled her eyes. "Don't be like that, Jel. I can't wake the other girls. You know something about all this? Is this some kind of trick you're pulling?"

Jelly threw away the cloth. "Believe me, if it was me, you wouldn't be awake to ask."

The red-head glared at her, and she held up a finger. "But, if you want, we can go find Gloyd and the others. I heard they were having a slumber party like the rest of us, and maybe only the girls refuse to listen to the birds sing."

Clarion frowned, but nodded. "Makes sense. Then c'mon, let's go!"

* * *

The two racers stood in the doorway, letting their blue eyes scan over Gloyd's bedroom. All of the boys were curled up in sleeping-bags, and like the girls, were sound asleep ... showing no signs of waking up. That was it. Something was defiantly wrong here. Did Sandy go overkill? "I think I'll take a leap back home and report this problem to the authorities," Clarion finally said, half joking to try and lighten the dark mood that had just settled. "See you later."

She spun around to exit the room, and Jelly stared at her in disbelief. "Are you really going to leave me here _alone?"_ she asked incredulously. "In charge of a world of sleeping people?"

Clarion stopped. "Do what you want," she shrugged.

Jelly crossed her arms. "Then I'll go with you."

The red-haired racer rolled her eyes. "Oh, will you just tell me you're scared right now and get it over with?!"

Jelly ignored that. "Just think, together, we have less chance of one of us becoming the next vicim," she pointed out.

Clarion raised an eyebrow. "One of us? As in, meaning you don't have a chance to fall asleep? I put more fear into this Arcade then anything else."

Jelly chose not to answer that, and the girls quickly left the silent room, heading for their karts outside so they could leave Sugar Rush and check up on the power bar, Game Central Station.

* * *

Noticing something was wrong was even easier then in Sugar Rush, for two reasons. The first reason was that Game Central Station was empty. Completely and utterly empty, silent as a ghost town. On a weekend _holiday. _The second reason was that the Surge Protector didn't appear to interrogate Clarion, as he had acquired a habit of doing lately. Honestly, the whole thing was beginning to creep the two racers out.

"I don't like this ..." Jelly whispered nervously as she grabbed onto Clarion's arm, scared.

Clarion huffed in frustration. "Seriously, Jel, stop being such a scaredy-kit-kat."

Jelly shot her a mild death glare, when a voice rang through the empty Station. "Girls!"

Both turned their heads in surprise to see James Robert Grace, also known as Jay-Jay Cotton Candy and Clarion's twin brother, sitting on one of the benches nearby the game _Fix-It Felix Jr,. _Sitting on his lap and hugging him, blue eyes wide with fear, was two-year-old Erik Fix-It, the son of the game characters Fix-It Felix Junior from his namesake game and Sergeant Tamora Calhoun from _Hero's Duty. _Standing besides them were two other game characters, the brown-haired, purple-eyed, three-year-old Tory Wreck-It, and four-year-old, brown-haired and blue-eyed Crystal Fix-It, looking around the Station nervously.

Clarion smiled faintly and walked over to the bench with Jelly, sitting down next to James, and Crystal's blue eyes lit up in relief. "Clar!" the girl exclaimed, throwing herself at the red-head and settling into her lap.

Clarion laughed, stroking her light hair. "Good morning, little jewel. Did you sleep well?"

Crystal nodded, the relief draining away from her face as if reminded of something, and hugged her sister with a whimper. She frowned. "Is there a problem, little Sugar Cube?"

James sighed, shifting Erik onto one of his knees. "They're all sound asleep, I'm afraid."

Clarion looked around Game Central Station. Well, that explained why it was so empty. _"All?"_ Jelly asked, blue eyes wide in shock.

James nodded. "Every last character in that game," he answered, motioning to the outlet of _Fix-It Felix Jr,._ "Probably every other game, too. They're alive, but there's something wrong."

"The same thing's happened in Sugar Rush," his twin mused thoughtfully. "So far, I think we're the only characters that are actually awake in the entire Arcade."

Jelly scowled. "But why _us?"_

The boy paused. "Well ... maybe because we have something the others don't. Our codes were never plugged into the games. We were actually born, not created. Whatever's affecting the codes of the characters can't hurt us because we're not part of a game."

The purple-haired racer rolled her eyes, putting her hands on her hips. "I feel flattered."

Clarion abruptly squinted ahead at the other side of Game Central Station, then let a slow smile decorate her features. "Sorry Jay, but your theory was just flushed down the drain."

She waved one hand in the air. "Guys! Over here!"

James and the others turned in time to see four anthropomorphic animals make their ways towards them from the outlet of one of the latest _Sonic the Hedgehog_games. There was a black and purple hedgehog holding the hand of a much smaller, golden hedgehog, and next to her was a gray cat with three tails. Trailing behind warily was an identical cat wearing a hooded robe. The animals, rare add-on characters in their game, stopped in front of them, and the first cat, Virtual the Gospel Kitsune Cat, breathed outward in relief. "Finally, someone's alive in here. I though we were the only ones."

James grinned. "It's good to hear a familiar voice when everything seems dark, both emotionally and realistically, right?" he commented, as Virtual was blind. "But how'd you guys escape the sleeping spell that hit the whole Arcade? It obviously wasn't caused by _him."_

He pointed at the smaller hedgehog, Sandy the Sandhedge, who rolled his golden eyes with a look that read, _Obviously._

Rae jabbed a gloved finger at the hooded cat. "Morpheus," she stated blankly.

The Arthurian-version of Virtual shrugged. "I do not know how I managed to wake up," he replied. "I remember having a very strange dream, where life was perfect – but I knew that everything was not real. That was when I awoke, and I tried to wake everyone else, but only Virtual, Sandy, and Rae would. I fail to comprehend why at the moment, as well as why the others are asleep in the first place."

"And we also had similar dreams like his before he woke us up!" Rae added. "You?"

Jelly blew a strand of purple hair out of her face. "No dreams except for the ordinary," she said, and the twins nodded.

Tory bit his lip, blonde bangs falling into his face. "Go do something, won't you, Clar?" he asked innocently.

Clarion smiled. "Sure, sweetie."

She looked back at the others. "Let's take care of this. I swore to their fathers that I would protect them at any cost, and that's what I'll do. Now, let's see, where do we start to check up on this mystery ..."

None of them noticed the pair of glinting, green eyes peering out at them from the shadows in an outlet nearby. The shadowed person held up his wrist, where a gleaming, silver watch was strapped, and whispered, "We have ten lost here ... restart the program."

_"Reactivating program in three ... two ... one ... program reactivated,"_ a voice answered from the mechanical clock.

Clarion stiffened. "Did you hear that?" she asked her friends.

"Look, if you need me I'll be working in the shop, okay?" Jelly called, starting to walk away.

"Wait just a second!"

The redhead grabbed hold of her arm, stopping the racer, then motioned for complete silence. Still grabbing Jelly, she began to tiptoe over to the outlet discreetly, out of sight of the shadows. Meanwhile, the person stared at James, Morpheus, and the others, a frown coming over his face as his eyes darkened. "They're still there!" he hissed to the watch. "What went wrong?! Who are they?!"

_"Codes do not match,"_ was the only answer he received.

He growled. "How can that be?! Out of anyone here, they're the ones that give–"

"Well, well. Looks like we got ourselves a nosy spy."

The person turned, and Clarion's arm shot out as she grabbed the front of the person's shirt, yanking him out into the light as she held him in a tight grip. The person was a boy, no more the twelve years of age, with extremely bright, neon-green eyes and hair the color of tar. His skin was pale, and he was wearing a white shirt, blue jeans, black sneakers, and a silver watch around his right wrist, all very simple and seemingly new. Clarion, James, and Morpheus stared at him suspiciously, as the three oldest characters were sure they had never seen him before.

"Who _are_ you?" Clarion asked angrily.

The boy's green eyes narrowed. "The question is, who are _you?"_

The girl gritted her teeth. "You think you have the right to ask anything? You're in our territory and outnumbered, forget it. Answer our questions _now,_ and ..."

She cast a glance at the others, who had gone into defensive mode. James' hand was at his belt, ready to pull out his gun, while Sandy had summoned his Sand whips and Rae clutched a knife in each hand, both Virtual and Morpheus holding their blue lightsabers at the ready. "... And maybe we'll let you live."

The boy looked at them, and Rae bared her fangs, red eyes glowing. He winced. "All right, all right! You don't need to fret! Put me down, and we can talk."

Clarion literally dropped him, sending the boy crashing to the floor, and put her hands on her hips. "I have a gun," she warned. "If you run, I won't hesitate to shoot."

The boy scrambled to his feet, holding up his hands. "Okay, okay! I'm Matthew. Matthew Daniel Anderson."

"Game?" Jelly, the only person not armed besides the younger children, asked curiously.

Matthew shrugged. "None. If I ever belonged to one, I can't remember it, but I can guarantee you that I've been around here a while."

The redhead's blue eyes narrowed. She could tell she wasn't lying, nor was programmed to lie that way, but didn't let that put her guard down. Her twin stepped forward. "Why were you spying on us?" he demanded.

The boy rolled his green eyes. "Well, sorry, but it's kinda strange to not have anyone else out here," he shot back sarcastically.

Clarion scowled. "I heard voices, though. Who were you talking to?"

Matthew shrugged. "No one. It's just me here."

Her eyes narrowed until they were mere slits. "You can lie, but the lie has short legs and it's not going far."

He huffed. "All right! I only have one thing on my watch. Want to see it?"

Since nobody answered, as they were waiting for him to show him, the boy pressed a black button on it, causing a holographic screen to appear. Codes began to run across the screen, flickering and flashing, and the group stared at the screen in surprise. Nobody noticed a sly smirk cross Matthew's face as he stepped back and closed his eyes. Instantly, the screen shot out a bright light, and the friends cried out as it engulfed them before collapsing to the floor, unconscious.

The screen faded away as it was sucked back into the clock's face, and Matthew opened his eyes to gaze down at the unmoving characters, smiling creepily. He lifted the watch up to his mouth. "Mission accomplished."

_"Good job, Matt,"_ came the reply, and the boy spun around, vanishing into the shadows.


	2. Chapter 2

_**The Matrix Series**_

_**Season One: The Virus**_

_**Chapter Two: Something Off**_

* * *

In a large, white room filled with the blinding light of electric lamps that were nowhere to be seen, Matthew was seated in front of a futuristic-looking computer, pale face twisted into a smirk. "Problem solved," he stated. "I _guarantee_ you that they won't wake up again."

The computer whirred thoughtfully. _"But they can still be a problem. Their codes are not matching up with the program."_

Matthew snorted. "That's why they're locked up tighter then Fort Knox, right?" the boy asked.

_"Not all of them,"_ the machine replied. _"We need some of them to complete the program, but I do not know just how long the program will be able to control them. Did you find what I asked of you?"_

The black-haired child sighed in frustration. "The answer is still _no!_ Whoever the heck organized this place seemed to want to make sure no one would be able to find it, let alone put it in operation."

The computer, if human, would have most likely shrugged at that point. _"Just keep looking. I feel this very instant something ... or someone, rather ... is watching us."_

Instantly an explosion of neon-green light enveloped the room, and everything went dark as Matthew and the computer vanished.

* * *

Crystal slowly opened her blue eyes, sitting up as she groaned slightly and rubbed her head, looking around. She could see nothing – just an endless sea of pure, spaceless, limitless black. She frowned, crossing her arms. "Not again ..." the little girl murmured to herself.

What was this place? She remembered having a nightmares about something like this once, around a year ago, and that surely couldn't be a good sign. Even now, months later, she could recall every detail perfectly, almost as if it was yesterday ...

**Flashback**

Crystal sat bolt upright in bed, panting hard as she trembled all over, clutching the blankets in a death grip as she whimpered softly. She had just awoken from a very scary nightmare, but it wasn't a normal nightmare, it seemed far too real and ... suddenly, the bedroom door opened, and the four-year-old jerked her head up to see her adoptive sister standing in the doorway. "What happened, Sugar Cube?" she asked, walking over. "Another nightmare?"

Clarion sat on the edge of the bed, and Crystal nodded, trying her best not to cry, but it was hard. She was so scared ... "Was it a monster?" her sister asked.

The child nodded a second time, leaning over to quickly whisper the dream in Clarion's ear, and once she finished, Clarion sighed and pulled her into a warm hug. Crystal snuggled against her chest. "You won't let that happen, will you?" she murmured.

Clarion smiled. "Of course not. Now, good night, Sugar Cube. Dream with me, and I'll kill every monster that tries to scare you again, okay?"

The red-head kissed her sister's forehead, causing her to giggle and relax in her arms. Within a few minutes, the little one finally fell asleep, and Clarion gently tucked her back underneath the covers, standing up as she left the room and closed the door behind her, leaving it open a crack. As soon as she was gone, Crystal opened her blue eyes and slipped out of bed, stealthily tip-toeing over to the door and pressing her ear against it. She could faintly hear Clarion's voice saying, "We have a big problem, Dad. She's having nightmares about Turbo."

"But she doesn't even know _about_ Turbo!" Crystal heard their father, Felix, protest.

**End of Flashback**

Crystal quickly shook her head in confusion. How could she dream about things she wasn't even supposed to know existed or were real? Did that mean those dreams were real? Maybe that could explain the darkness around her, but what could she do about that? She was still only four years old, much to young to really do anything ...

But she still had to try. Everyone kept telling her she was much more intelligent then her age, and now was the time to prove them right.

Or wrong.

* * *

Clarion snapped open her neon-blue eyes, and her gaze met with a white ceiling. Wrinkling her nose, she sat up, feeling a bit dizzy, and looked around the cozy room she somehow found herself in. She was laying in a bed made entirely out of white chocolate, with fluffy, marshmallow pillows white blankets spun out of cotton-candy. The walls were painted a pale blue, the floor and ceiling white, and the curtains in the open windows were a bright, sapphire blue. At the bed-s side was a small table made out of white chocolate, and on it was a book. The book had a blue cover, no illustrations on the front at all, but the title across it, written in white, was _Life in the Arcade._

That was probably what she was reading before she fell asleep, but strangely, the room didn't seem very real to her, as if it was just part of a dream ... pushing aside those thoughts, as they were pure nonsense, of course this wasn't a dream, she opened the drawer of the night table. Just to check, she felt she needed to write something, anything, to prove this was all real. Nothing was inside. Clarion frowned as she realized the book didn't have a pen or pencil with it, and no such writing tool was on the desk either.

She looked around the room a second time. Besides what she had already noticed, she spotted a white chocolate wardrobe and several drawings and sketches on the wall, which showed her with the other Sugar Rush Racers, even with Taffyta. _Why does Taffyta being friends with me seem like such a strange concept?_ she asked herself, getting up out of bed and running over to the wardrobe.

After quickly dressing, Clarion opened one of the wardrobe drawers and found, lying inside, a notebook and pencil, certainly not from Sugar Rush judging by the fact they weren't made out of any candy or food material. _Now why do outside items also seem like a strange concept for me to grasp?_ she asked herself again, sitting cross-legged on the floor as she opened the notebook and began scribbling basic information.

_"Name: Pammy Cotton Candy"_

She tapped her chin, studying the name. "Mm ... no ..."

The girl wrote underneath the first name _"Pamela Ramirez Jackson", _but that somehow also seemed wrong. What was her name again? Why was she having trouble remembering it? Clarion thought hard, chewing on the end of her pencil, then finally wrote a random name that popped into her head – _"Clarion Jackson Grace Fix-It"_.

"Fix-It?" she asked herself, now even more confused.

Why the heck would she have a name like that? But it seemed right, or at least, almost right. She risked a forth line and wrote _"Clarion Grace Jackson"_. She smiled, as for some strange reason, she felt satisfied. Those two seemed correct to her. "Now, let me see ... age? That's easy, nine ... wait, no, ten ... mm, better fourteen. Yeah, defiantly fourteen."

Smirking, she wrote _"Age: 14"_

"Now, family ..."

Clarion quickly wrote, _"Family: A twin bro, Aaron Jackson Grace Fix-It aka James Robert Grace. And parents ..."_

She stopped again, frowning slightly. Why was that part so hard to remember? She noticed the names Jackson, Grace, and Fix-It were appearing again without her even being aware of writing them, but she couldn't remember why those names were coming up. She shrugged. "Okay, let's go to the next one."

_"Home: Sugar Rush Speedway"_

Wait. That didn't look right either ... after a moment of pondering, she finally risked it and wrote a _"?"_ next to the game. "All right! Now name the people in the pictures ..."

Clarion looked up at the drawings. "... Well, that's easy. But why's it easy to remember them and not my parent's names?"

"Because you don't have any parents," a voice spoke up.

Clarion whipped her head around to see, standing in the doorway, a young girl with black hair sprinkled with candy bits and hazel-brown eyes, dressed in a regal, pink and white formal dress, covered with sugar that could almost be glitter and better defining the word "royal gown" then "formal dress". Vanellope von Schweetz! "President!" she exclaimed with a startled gasp, not expecting to see the ruler there.

Wait, why had she said President? Vanellope seemed to notice as well and giggled. "Princess!" she corrected cheerfully.

Now Clarion was getting confused all over again. _I don't remember Vanellope being called President, but it seems right, and yet she's a Princess, not a President, and why does her attitude just seem ... off somehow?_ she thought curiously, letting a deep sigh escape her. _Why can't I remember anything? Ugh, what the heck's wrong with me?!_

"I do too have parents!" the red-head finally protested hotly, crossing her arms, blue eyes flashing. "I know I'm not supposed to have any, but I do! I just can't remember them at the moment. And why the fudge are you even _here?"_

Vanellope frowned. "Now, now, that's not the way you are to speak to your Princess," she answered haughtily. "And you're acting very strange lately, Pammy. I warned you about reading those stupid science-fiction books! Oh, and by the way, the Arcade will open in five minutes."

Clarion raised an eyebrow. "But ... but today's Sunday!" she exclaimed.

The President-or-Princess girl stared at her strangely. "No, it's Monday," she corrected her, also raising an eyebrow. "What did you do all day? Sleep?"

Clarion thought about that. So far, that's what it sure seemed like, but if she was sleeping, then she couldn't be reading that book she saw. And if it wasn't the book, then where had those memory fragments of green lights and watches come from? Why did she remember them ... ugh, she needed more time to think about all this, but now, it was time to race. She could try and figure out what was going on when the Arcade closed again ...

* * *

James woke up to the forever-annoying sound of someone knocking on his door. He groaned. "I know, Mom, I know, I'm coming ..." he muttered, thankful he was still in his normal clothes and not pajamas.

Maybe it wasn't his adoptive mother, since he didn't remember her knocking on his bedroom door like this when he was late in awakening. She'd have busted the door down by now. He snickered a bit at the thought, opening his blue eyes as he sat up and looked around. He was in a small, blue and white room with a bed, a wardrobe, a small table, and drawings tacked up on the walls. On the table was lying a blue book, reading across the front _Life in the Arcade,_ and a calendar was hung on the wall next to a blue-curtained window. He assumed he was in Sugar Rush by the fact everything was candy, and somehow knew his room was almost identical to that of his twin sister's, but he couldn't recognize exactly _where_ he was. "I have to stop reading before bed," he muttered, eyeing the book nearby.

The person knocked again, and James asked himself, _Who in their right mind could that be on a Sunday morning?_

His questioning thoughts vanished before he could grasp them, and he called, "Okay, I'm coming!" to the person at the door.

Quickly sliding out of bed and pulling on his boots and hat, he glanced at the calendar, which showed him, surprisingly, it was already Monday. That was weird, he didn't remember Sunday, so he had assumed that was today ... "What did I do the whole Sunday?" he muttered to himself, puzzled.

Walking over to his bedroom door, James grabbed the doorknob and pulled it open to reveal a young girl waiting impatiently outside. She was younger then him, with black hair and bright green eyes, and was dressed in a sparkly, royal-white dress. He recognized her as Lily von Schweetz, Vice-President of Sugar Rush Speedway. _Vice-President?_ he thought to himself, confused. _With a dress and a crown?_

"Are you ready?" the girl asked him, sounding annoyed as her green eyes half-closed.

He blinked. "To ...?"

She frowned. "The Arcade will open in five minutes! You're never late, what's wrong with you?

James shrugged, running a hand through his red hair. "I don't know. Why am I even here?"

"Because this is your game!" Lily replied, grabbing his hand as she pulled him out of his room, down the stairs, and outside of the house.

James shook his head, yanking his hand away from her as he stopped at the front door of what he guessed was his house. "No, it's not! I know I have a job here, but I have a home and a family in ..."

He stopped. Why couldn't he remember where his family was? Who _was_ his family? What was wrong with him?! "... I ... I can't remember, but I know I have one! And where's my sister?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Vanellope is getting her. Now, enough of your stupid stories, it's time to race!"

* * *

Finally. The Arcade was closed. Clarion rested her head against the seat of her kart, which was parked at the finish-line. Taking her notebook out of her jacket pocket, she let her blue eyes wander over the words. "Let me see ..." she murmured. "What else do I need ..."

She thought about that for a moment, and Vanellope approached her, crossing her arms as she stopped next to the driver's door. "Are you _still_ thinking about all that nonsense about having a family?"

Clarion sighed. "I know it sounds strange! I just ... I feel like I missed something."

"Are you going to participate in the Random Roster Race tonight?" the black-haired Princess asked.

The red-head shook her head. "No. I need to find out what exactly I lost."

Vanellope rolled her eyes with a huff. "Then can you please get your kart off of the finish-line?" she asked sarcastically.

This time Clarion rolled her eyes. Yeesh, what was wrong with Vanellope? From what she remembered, she was fun and quirky and playful and always laughing, but this Vanellope ... reminded her of a Princess. A snobby, sophisticated, bratty Princess. Ugh. Straightening, Clarion started her engine and, stepping on the gas, spun around and raced away, hair whipping in the wind as she headed for the Rainbow Bridge leading to Sugar Rush's exit.

* * *

Screeching to a stop at the bottom of Rainbow Bridge, Clarion let herself relax a little as she looked up at the cotton-candy clouds, musing. "The last things I remember ... there was this green light ... green eyes ... codes scrolling ... everyone sleeping ... they were sleeping, I was sleeping, and ... I was with some friends ... and some of them were from Sugar Rush, but there were others ... they weren't Racers ... they were from somewhere else ... and ..."

She groaned. "Oh, come _on!_ Why can't I remember them?!"

"You too?"

Clarion turned her head to see her twin brother, James, standing besides her kart, and she smiled. "Oh, hi bro. What's up?"

He sighed. "I dunno. I spent all day trying to remember something I forgot, but I can't recall it at all. Only a little bit."

She nodded. "I know. Our family. I can't remember them, but I know we have one, and yet Vanellope keeps saying we don't have any parents or siblings! Why? I don't understand, why does she think that?"

James paused. "Maybe ... maybe together, we can remember," he suggested.

Clarion chuckled, opening the side door and making space for her brother to sit down, and he slid in next to her, closing the door. He passed an arm around her neck while she rested her head on his shoulder, both of them gazing up at the plug exit, when suddenly, their eyes flashed neon-blue light at the exact same time. Instantly, their memories flooded back to them like a torrent, and it took a good five minutes before the flashbacks stopped and they could move again.

The twins blinked. "... Did you feel that?" Clarion asked, still a little stunned.

James smirked. "I said we could remember together, didn't I?"

She rolled her blue eyes. "Yeah, yeah, you're always right," she muttered softly.

He shook his head, red hair swaying. "No. _You're_ always right._ I_ just tried out being right for once."

Clarion smiled, then asked, "You want to go back home, now? Our _real_ home?"

James grinned. "Are you kidding? I can't wait for it!"

Laughing, the two kids jumped out of the kart and ran up the sugary, Rainbow Bridge, jumping into the train once they reached the exit and letting it whisk them back to Game Central Station, staring at each other with wide smiles, their matching, blue eyes shining with excitement.

They were going home.

* * *

Moprheus stared out the window of his room, "seeing" the dark world of the realm of the Black Knight begin to light up again as it did every time the Arcade closed. Sonic said that gray clouds and no sun all the time was a bit too dreary, and honestly, Morpheus agreed with the Hedgehog on that point, despite not actually knowing what that meant. He supposed it had something to do with lack of light, but being blind, he had very little idea what that was either.

Everything was wrong. Morpheus didn't know exactly what was going on or why this was happening, but it was all wrong. The Matthew person couldn't fool him into thinking this was all real – it might work for people who could see, but he couldn't see, he could just sense. And everything he sensed was wrong. Worse yet, it was like he was the only one that both remembered the light and knew something was off. He'd tried telling Virtual, Rae, even Sandy, but they just thought he was being "odd" again.

Well, he'd just have to snap them out of it later. For now, he had to see whether or not the twins, or Jelly, or even Crystal remembered what had happened. Hopefully, their memories hadn't been erased or locked or whatever in Avalon was going on. The only question was ... _why_ would somebody do that to everyone's memories? What purpose could that serve?

"Morph?"

Morpheus turned to see a yellow Cat with black hair standing in the doorway of his room, wearing a red and back dress with white Angel wings folded at her back. He nodded at her. "Hello, Melli."

The female, Mellius the Winged Glitch Cat, smiled. "Hey, the Round Table Knights are going to visit the Green Hills Zone back in Sonic's world – want to come along?"

The Cat paused, then shook his head. "No, thank you."

His girlfriend cocked her head, looking confused. "Huh? Why not?"

Morpheus stepped away from the window, withdrawing his blue lightsaber from his necklace, and faced her. "Is this real?" he asked.

Mellius blinked. "... What?"

He motioned around them. "This. What you see. Is this real?"

The yellow Cat looked even more confused. "Morph, what are you talking about?"

Morpheus sighed, looking back at the open window. "Dreams seem real while you are in them," he murmured softly. "But it is only when you wake up that you finally realize some things are actually strange ... because you never remember the beginning of a dream. You always end up right in the middle of what is happening ... so how did you end up here?"

He looked back at Honey. "If Sah asks where I am, tell him I will be gone for a while."

Moprheus gently pushed back her, walking out the door, and Mellius blinked, turning to watch him leave. "But ... but where are you going?"

He glanced back to "look" at her. "To Game Central Station. I must find the others."

Before the yellow Cat could say anything farther, Morpheus dissolved into shadows and vanished.

* * *

The train finally stopped at the game's exit, and twins leaped out, running into the crowded and bustling Game Central Station. Clarion noticed the Surge Protector didn't stop her, which she found somewhat strange, but shrugged it off. The Central was as busy as usual, so maybe the problem with lost memories was only with Sugar Rush, nothing a simple game reset couldn't fix.

At least, Clarion hoped that was it.

The duo quickly sprinted to _Fix-It Felix Jr,_ jumping into the rickety karts that took them to the world of Niceland, but the second they stepped out of the train and into the game ... they felt something was horribly wrong. "The darkness could threaten us ..." James muttered.

Clarion rolled her eyes. Not that she thought her brother was wrong, it just sounded like he had gotten that phrase from a book. Just reading something was one thing, but she could never understand why he quoted things. But that wasn't the point. The first and most obvious sign that something was off was that, where East Niceland should be, was nothing but empty space and forest and a dump filled with smashed bricks. They stared at the dump in horror, and James finally managed to speak. "... You think we went back in time?" he asked shakily.

Clarion couldn't help but roll her bright blue eyes again. Well, he'd already turned the Core Four into ponies and almost herself as well, but her chameleon code had saved her, teleported Vanellope to a second dimension, followed by him teleporting all of the Sugar Rush Racers and transforming them into candy Smurfs, but back in time? He was exaggerating a bit. "No. Vanillary was already unlocked, and they remember us," she pointed out.

James had to agree with her on that point. "Okay, then let's look around!" he exclaimed, grabbing her hand and running with her over to the Niceland Apartments, in one of those rare moments where _he_ was the head twin and not Clarion herself.

She let herself be dragged by her brother until they reached the apartments, where they found Gene standing at the entrance doors. That made Clarion hesitate, but James approached the short, squat man with his best, innocent-looking smile. "Hi, Gene!"

Gene turned and smiled. "Ah, hey kids! Come to invite us to another party?"

The twins shared a puzzled look. "Um ... no?" they answered at the same time.

The mayor raised an eyebrow. "So, what is it? You two never leave Sugar Rush except to give out party invitations!"

**_WHAT?!_**

Never leave Sugar Rush? What did that even mean? What was wrong? And why was Gene being so ... _nice_ to them?

"Okay," Clarion replied, cutting off her thoughts as she pulled off her best lie for such a special – and important – occasion. "We weren't feeling very well all day, so Pres– I mean, Princess Vanellope, suggested that we do something different then usual, so we're just walking around, saying hi to some friends and all. You know."

She gave a nervous laugh, starting to back away as Gene stared at them, obviously confused. "So, uh, glad to see you, Gene, tell everyone we said hi!"

Clarion waved to him, smiling as she grabbed her brother's hand, and quickly spun around and walked away, pulling James with her. Once out of sight of the Nicelander mayor, James yanked away from her grip and asked, "What was that?!"

Clarion ran a hand through her red locks of hair with a sigh of frustration. "I don't know! I think something's really wrong here! What it is and what's started happening to these games to change them, we're gonna find out."

"How?" her twin questioned, tilting his head slightly.

She smiled. "Why, we'll begin where it all began, of course. The place we found Matthew."


End file.
